In Bolaji Abdullahi's Sweet Sixteen, the character Mr. Bello shared a story that happened during the slave trade era, where some white slave traders raided an African village, maimed them, raped their women and captured the remaining. While transporting these people on a ship, the ship capsized, with only two survivors—a white slave chief and a black slave. Instead of this black man using the opportunity to pay back, maybe in double-fold, just as many would do by inflicting on his former captor all the pain and suffering he had put him and his people through, this man nursed the white man back to health.

This story illustrates that human life is of premium value and should be treated as such, that human lives should be treated like headlines and not footnotes, one that should not be held with two fingers but grabbed with two hands. It also emphasises that the act of kindness and compassion to oneself or others is a life purpose.

On a recent Friday, during the Eid celebration, while praying at Ahmadu Bello University Central Mosque, a guy—let's call him Abdul—on the row before mine suddenly fell. Before I could move closer to help, some guys had already carried him away to resuscitate him. This drama, despite its rapid occurrence, remains engraved in my mind. I could not stop thinking about everything—Abdul, the aiders, and the process.

In basic terms, what those guys did to Abdul that helped resuscitate him is called first aid: immediate care or assistance given to a sick or injured individual, or one in conditions that predispose them to serious medical complications, before the arrival of professional medical help. This process is one that sees our lives as invaluable assets which are fight-worthy.

Abdul was lucky. Not everyone gets that moment.

Sadly, unlike Abdul's resuscitators and the black African, some people may offer their helpless aid through videotaping the agony of a dying, help-seeking fellow human. Do these people lack the kindness and compassion to help? This growing culture of helpless bystanders is itself a form of societal illness which requires first-aid treatment and professional medical care.

Careful dissection of this issue, however, opened my eyes to a different reality. These people neither lack the willingness to act nor necessarily lack compassion. What is missing is the skill required to carry out this compassionate, life-saving procedure.

In a study conducted at Gregory University Uturu, Abia State (Nwosu et al., 2022), among 250 medical students, 47.2% had poor knowledge of first aid, yet 91.2% said they were willing to help if they knew how to administer it. Take a moment and look at how vulnerable one is in every setting—markets, schools, churches, mosques, bars, viewing centres. Imagine being in a situation where the people around you do not know how to respond to a medical emergency.

Schools are known to be citadels of knowledge—places where ideas are discussed, knowledge is shared, and skills are learnt. A furnace expected to transform ordinary individuals into educated ones. An educated individual should be one with the knowledge and skills to make himself and others better. Can someone who understands the rudiments of finance, science and arts but lacks life-saving skills such as basic first aid truly be called educated? The answer lies not just in what we know, but in what we can do when it matters most.

This helpless bystander culture, like every other, has a psychological basis. Dr Abayomi Kolade, Chief Executive Officer of Wellane Health, noted that, "Whether it is a person collapsing in a crowd, a child convulsing in a classroom, or a bike rider injured on the road, too often the surrounding public is paralyzed by uncertainty, fear or lack of training. People film with their phones rather than act." When found in such situations, people do not know what to do, they fear causing more harm, and they fear judgement from the watching crowd. He also added that "lives that could have been saved are tragically lost—not for lack of possibility, but for lack of preparation."

Their attempt to help is hindered by fear and uncertainty coupled with lack of adequate knowledge. To escape this sad reality, people resort to a simpler alternative—filming with their phones. This creates the illusion of helping without real intervention.

Nigeria's Emergency Response Chain has a gap so wide that it consumes thousands annually. To close this wide, widening gap between the moment of collapse and the clinic, we need not only ambulances and hospitals but trained hands, people close enough to act within the critical ten-minute window, within which bystander CPR for witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has been shown to significantly improve survival (O'Keefe et al., 2025).

From the Nwosu et al. (2022) study, 94% of participants felt it is necessary to incorporate first aid into the school curriculum. This is a call for our educational institutions—primary, secondary and tertiary—to incorporate subjects and courses where basic first aid skills are taught in a scaffolded manner. Gradually, these troubling figures will begin to fall.

Mosques and churches must also become sanctuaries of safety, not only of the spirit. "And whoever saves one life—it is as if he had saved all mankind," from Quran, Chapter 5, verse 32. The biblical story of the Good Samaritan solidifies that first aid is not peripheral; it is a foundation of faith. Sadly, our religious institutions, who should be forerunners of this life-saving message, contribute little to this cause. Not until prayers go alongside life-saving protocols, and basic first aid training is infused into our religious services, will this gap begin to close. In public spaces, first aid kits should be standard and accessible, amplifying the efforts of already trained individuals.

Money can be earned again. Reputations can be restored. Opportunities can return. But human life, once gone, is irreplaceable. First aid, when applied early and effectively, can save lives, prevent avoidable deaths, and assist medical treatment. To be armed with these life-saving skills is to be a lifelong saviour. Waiting is dangerous. Start today. Take courses from certified institutions. Attend workshops, training and seminars. Because the next Abdul may not be as fortunate.

We cannot all be Abdul!

Remember, the white slaver had the black man, Abdul had his resuscitators, and the Jewish man had the Good Samaritan. Who do you have? Unlike Abdul, the white slaver, and the Jewish man, you might be unlucky.

References

1. • Nwosu, N. C., Onwuka, O. M., & Chukwu, J. A. O. (2022). Awareness, knowledge of first aid and first emergency behavioral perception of medical students in a university in Southeastern Nigeria. Asian Journal of Medicine and Health, 20(9), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.9734/AJMAH/2022/v20i930490

2. • Abdullahi, I. (2025, April 29). Poor emergency response skills hindering accident victims' survival. The Punch Nigeria.

3. • O'Keefe, E. L., Abdel Jawad, M., Kennedy, K. F., Nguyen, D., Ikemura, N., & Chan, P. (2025). Time to bystander CPR and survival for witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Resuscitation, 209, 110566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2025.110566

4. • Fund for Innovation in Development. (2023–2024). Improving emergency response with a network of trained community-based first responders in Nigeria.

5. 
   

About the Author

Muhammad Oladipupo Salaudeen is a penultimate-year Bachelor of Pharmacy student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and a health communicator whose writing sits at the intersection of pharmaceutical science, public health, and storytelling. His work has been published in TheCable Nigeria and Pharmanews, covering topics ranging from HIV prevention and antimicrobial resistance to pharmacy education and community health. He previously served as Assistant Chairperson of the PANS ABU Public Health Team, where he co-led public health campaigns reaching over 2,000 students and community members, and coordinated AMR awareness campaigns across two Northwestern states through the 100 AMR Stewards Initiative. He writes at medium.com/@muhammadsalau98.